A truck-driving preacher who helped thwart an alleged kidnapping attempt in South Carolina — all captured on his vehicle’s dashboard camera — said Thursday that he was not a hero, but rather a “divine” tool.
Anthony Moore, 53, was driving in Aiken County, about 20 miles from the Georgia border, last Friday when a woman ran directly into his path with her hands tied behind her back.
The video, which does not contain sound, shows details of the drama: the woman passes in front of the truck, and a man in a Cadillac that was on the side of the road swerves in front of the truck before it takes off. Then the woman runs down the road and the man leaves.
“I view it as just a divine mandate from God, because if I hadn’t been there with the dash cam… they probably wouldn’t have been able to get the footage that needed to be captured,” Moore told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “It was another commission from God, a special commission from God. That life needed saving.”
Authorities arrested Jonathan Willard, 39, of New Ellenton, on charges of kidnapping and impersonating a law enforcement officer. He was booked into custody Thursday at the Aiken County Detention Center.
According to an incident report from the Aiken County Police Department, the woman was walking when a man in a green Cadillac “came up behind her and told her he was with the police.” She said he took her phone and Social Security card, handcuffed her and put her in the back seat of the car.
The woman told police the man stopped at a gated property and got out. She said she tried to open the back doors, but they were locked.
While the man was rummaging through the trunk, she climbed into the seat and escaped through the open driver’s side door, she said.
Moore was driving south of Aiken when he saw the woman running toward him.
“She rolled down my window and said, ‘Please help me. He’s trying to kidnap me,'” Moore said.
As the woman swerved, the man chasing her stopped next to him and showed “what appeared to be a badge,” Moore said.
“And he said, ‘I’m with law enforcement,’ and I jumped out of my car,” Moore recounted. The man then left in a Cadillac.
Bystanders called 911, helped remove the woman’s handcuffs and gave her water. Moore said she told him she had just graduated the day before, and that the man also received her degree.
She asked Moore if he would accompany her to the place where she fled, to see if the man had thrown away her belongings. He said they found nothing.
The Aiken County District Attorney’s Office said Willard has not yet been assigned a defense attorney and no court dates have been set. The AP contacted the prison to speak with Willard, but the request was denied.
Moore is the pastor of Amazing Grace Ministries in Denmark, South Carolina. Moore is also a 27-year Army veteran, said his wife, Betty, an associate pastor at the church.
“When I found out he was arrested the next day, I was relieved that a lot of things didn’t get away with him and I go and try to do it again somewhere else,” he said.